Worcester Bravehearts Release 2016 Schedule

The Worcester Bravehearts have released their full 56 game schedule for the 2016 season as they look for a third straight Futures League Championship.

Worcester will open the 2016 season on the road against the Seacoast Mavericks on Thursday, June 2nd

The Bravehearts will open their home schedule on Friday, June 3rd against the Wachusett Dirt Dawgs and then will stay at home on June 4th to host the Martha's Vineyard Sharks. That game will be a rematch of the 2015 FCBL Semifinal in which the Bravehearts won in 15 innings.

The Bravehearts are planning a championship ring ceremony on the field with members of the 2015 squad during one of the team's first two home games.

Worcester's final regular season home game will take place on Friday, August 5th against Martha's Vineyard, while their final regular season game will take place on Saturday, August 6th against Martha's Vneyard. Worcester will play 19 of their 28 home games on Thursday's through Sundays.

Staying in the West Division

The Bravehearts remain in the West Division for the upcoming season, meaning they will play eight games against Wachusett, Pittsfield, and Torrington as well as ten total games against Bristol.

Worcester will also play members of the East Division four times, including the Nashua Silver Knights, Brockton Rox, Seacoast Mavericks, and North Shore Navigators.

The Bravehearts will play Martha's Vineyard Sharks six times.

Critical Games

In the month of June, the Bravehearts will face the Bristol Blues seven times. The Bravehearts defeated the Blues in the 2015 Futures League Championship Series.

Worcester will host Bristol on June 8th, 14th, 17th and 30th, while visiting Bristol on the 10th, 21st and 23rd.

The Bravehearts will host a Fathers Day Game at 5:05 p.m. on Sunday, June 19th against Seacoast and will host Torrington on Saturday June 25th, and Nashua Silver Knights on Sunday, June 26th.

Playoff Format Changes

The playoff structure has changed to allow only the top six teams to qualify. Winners of the East and West divisions will receive a first round bye on Sunday, August 7th before hosting the winners of the first round match ups in a best of three series which starts on August 8th and ends on the 10th.

The Futures League Championship Series will be a best of three and will take place starting on Thursday, August 11th and go till Sunday, August 14th.

Worcester Bravehearts

The Worcester Bravehearts baseball team is owned and operated by the Creedon family, who also own and operate Creedon and Co., Inc.

The Bravehearts have won the FCBL Championship in 2014 and 2015 and were voted the organization of the year in 2014.

Related Slideshow: The History of Baseball in Central Massachusetts

Baseball and Central Mass. go way back - to the 1860s. The local historical landmarks range from Mudville to Hotel Vernon to Fitton Field. A version of these highlights is posted on the site of the new, yet-to-be-formally-named Worcester Baseballteam of the three-year-old Futures Collegiate Baseball League.

Casey At The Bat

First Perfect Game

The first perfect game in the history of Major League Baseball was pitched in Worcester, on June 12, 1880, by J. Lee Richmond for the Worcester Worcesters – also known at various times as the Brown Stockings and the Ruby Legs - versus the Cleveland Blues at the Worcester Driving Park Grounds, located in the Worcester Agricultural Fairgrounds near Elm Park. Worcester joined the National League in 1880, replacing the failed Syracuse Stars.

Wachusett Dirt Dawgs

The Wachusett Dirt Dawgs, who play at historic, and newly renovated, Doyle Field in Leominster, are a 2012 expansion franchise in the now-three-year-old Futures Collegiate Baseball League.The Dirt Dawgs’ 2013 season swung into action on June 5 with big expectations, but ended on August 8 with those hopes being dashed. They finished in the basement, with a record of 20-31 - 14 games behind first-place the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks (38-18). The team is owned by prominent Leominster businessman John Morrison, who also founded, owns and operates Fosta-Tek Optics in Leominster.